Thought for Food

Asparagus Tart Recipe

At first I thought I’d slow-roast a whole fish for the NYT photoshoot — M. and I make them often, they’re very easy and of course stunning — but then something hit me. Asparagus season! And I remembered this post from Kristin about an asparagus tart. We adapted the Crumpets & Cakes recipe. Note that the measurements below are not exact, but with a little common sense your tart will come out gloriously.

• 1 - 1 1/2 bunches of thick-stalk asparagus, peeled* (I covered the tart in asparagus for the photo, but it would be just fine with fewer stalks, more widely spaced; 1 bunch would be plenty)
• 10 fingerling potatoes, very thinly sliced into rounds (I used a mandolin)
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil, for frying
• 3/4 lb homemade (and frozen) puff pastry or 12 ounces frozen store-bought puff pastry
• 3/4 cup grated aged cheddar (I used Mrs. Quicke’s)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

Blanch the asparagus in heavily salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and soak in an ice bath. After they’ve cooled, let the stalks dry on a paper towel. Fry the potato slivers in batches in a well-oiled skillet over medium to low heat. Stop cooking just as they begin to crisp up and brown. Let drain on a paper towel.

Grease a baking sheet and roll out the pastry until it’s about 1/4” thick. Form a small rim around the edges. Stab the pastry several times with a fork. Place potato slices in a layer covering the entire pastry. Sprinkle with the cheese. Combine eggs and milk in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and spoon it over the potatoes and cheese. Arrange the asparagus stalks across the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 30 minutes or until the edges are golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* A commenter asked why we peeled the asparagus. Thick-stalk asparagus can have tough skin. Generally speaking, we peel them, though we leave pencil-stalk asparagus as is. It’s not necessary, but I believe the asparagus flavor is brighter when peeled.